SS Islander facts for kids
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 United Kingdom |
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| Name | Islander |
| Operator | Canadian-Pacific Navigation Company |
| Builder | Napier, Shanks and Bell of Glasgow |
| Yard number | 41 |
| Launched | 11 July 1888 |
| Fate | Sunk on 15 August 1901 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Steam merchant ship |
| Tonnage | 1519 |
| Length | 240 ft (73 m) |
| Beam | 42 ft (13 m) |
| Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
The SS Islander was a large steamship built in Scotland in 1888. It weighed 1519 tons and was 240-foot (73 m) long. The ship was owned by the Canadian-Pacific Navigation Company.
The Islander was specially designed for trips along the Inside Passage to Alaska. People said it was the most fancy ship on that route. Because of this, many rich business people and bankers who were involved in the Klondike gold rush loved to travel on it.
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The Sinking of the Islander
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On August 14, 1901, the Islander left Skagway, Alaska. It was heading to Victoria, British Columbia. The ship was full of passengers and carried a huge amount of gold. This gold was worth over $6,000,000 in 1901 money.
Early on August 15, around 2:00 AM, the ship was sailing down the narrow Lynn Canal. This area is south of Juneau. The Islander hit what was thought to be an iceberg. This caused a very big hole in the front left side of the ship.
The crew tried to steer the damaged ship towards nearby Douglas Island. But it was too late. Within five minutes, the front of the ship was pulled underwater by the weight of the water. The back of the ship, including its rudder and propellers, lifted completely out of the water.
The Islander drifted for about 15 minutes in a strong outgoing current. Then, it quickly sank to the bottom. On its last trip, the ship carried 107 passengers and 61 crew members. Sadly, 40 lives were lost in the sinking. This included the wife and daughter of a politician named James Hamilton Ross.
Attempts to Recover the Ship
The news about the ship's valuable gold cargo led to many attempts to recover it. There were also several lawsuits. Soon after the Islander sank, people started trying to find the wreck. Within days, another ship, the SS Haling, used special equipment to measure the depth of the water. This helped them try to find the sunken ship.
The first try to find the Islander failed. In 1902, a skilled diver named Henry Finch searched the bottom of the Lynn Canal. He had 40 years of diving experience. He found the ship's hull but could not start a full recovery effort.
1904 Recovery Efforts
In 1904, Henry Finch tried again. He had a special barge and a diving bell. He successfully found the Islander wreck in 175 feet (53 m) of water. He reported seeing a "gaping hole" in the ship's front.
Unfortunately, Finch could not reach the gold. The gold was thought to be in the Purser's Office, which was in the middle of the ship. He only managed to recover a piece of the deck rail and some grating.
Over the next 25 years, at least 12 different groups tried to recover the Islander. Each group managed to reach the wreck. However, none of them could get into the ship's cargo area or find any of the gold. Recovering items from such deep water was very difficult in the early 1900s. The strong currents, very cold temperatures, and bad weather also made it hard.
1929 Raising the Ship
In 1929, Captain Wiley from Seattle worked with Frank Curtis. Curtis was an expert at moving large structures. They came up with a plan to raise the ship. They would place 20 steel cables under the sunken liner. These cables would connect to ships on the surface.
The cables would be tightened at each low tide. This would slowly pull the wreck closer to shore with each high tide. This very difficult operation took two full salvage seasons. Finally, on July 20, 1934, the Islander surfaced near Green's Cove, Admiralty Island, Alaska.
The "gaping hole" that Henry Finch saw in 1904 was much bigger than expected. About 60 feet (18 m) of the Islander's front, including the Mail and Storage Room, had completely broken off. People expected to find the Islander's gold in the Purser's Office, which was in the middle of the ship.
When the wreck was finally cleared, it was disappointing. The Islander only had $75,000 worth of gold nuggets and gold dust. The Purser's Office did not have the strongboxes of gold bars that everyone expected. Its safe only contained a few US $10 and $20 gold coins and some wet paper money.
Police officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were on the ship to guard the gold. They said the gold bars were stored in a locker on the front left side of the ship's deck. This area was part of the "missing" front section. This missing part was not found until August 1996.
1996 Discovery and Legal Battle
In 1996, a company called OceanMar Inc. from Seattle gathered money from the USA and the UK. They planned a new recovery trip. They rented a suitable ship and brought special equipment. This included a sidescan sonar system and a "Surveyor" Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). An ROV is like a robot submarine that can explore underwater.
When their ship, the MV Jolly Roger, arrived in Juneau, a US Deputy Marshal boarded it. The expedition was given a Temporary Restraining Order. This order was obtained by a rival company, Yukon Recovery of Seattle. Yukon Recovery claimed they had rights to the wreck. They said they had found a light fitting and a bottle from the wreck.
OceanMar had done a lot of research on the Islander. They argued that the wreck had never been abandoned. They had a salvage agreement with the original insurance companies, which they believed meant they had the right to the wreck. OceanMar also showed that they had found the bow section long before Yukon Recovery appeared.
A meeting with a judge who knew a lot about sea law took place in Anchorage. OceanMar was allowed to survey and video the wreck site. However, they were strictly told not to remove anything from the wreck.
The Jolly Roger and its crew spent five weeks recording every detail of the bow section. They also used side-scan sonar to map the debris field. This field was between where the ship first hit something and where it finally rested. The Islander's bow section was found exactly on the 95th anniversary of the sinking.
OceanMar then spent four years in legal battles with Yukon Recovery. On March 7, 2000, the United States courts of appeals decided in favor of OceanMar.
In 2004, OceanMar was still trying to get the money needed to start a new recovery effort.
